Structure the Environment! Adapting Special Education strategies for at-home learning: A series.

Previously, we discussed the need to Structure Your Day while assisting in at-home learning for your child with Special Educational Needs. Creating a schedule allows your child to understand the ‘big picture’ and visualize how their day will play out, which is helpful for them when it comes to focusing on the task at hand. It also enables them to better understand what their expectations are at any given period of time throughout the day.

Now that we have a better idea of how to ensure our children are ready to learn by structuring their day, we now need to create an environment that will foster the same results.

Some writers need a coffee shop to do their best work, some painters need a garden to be inspired. At school, we use our environment as cues to help adjust our mindset in order to switch between certain tasks. When creating an environment for learning at home, we need to think about the space and atmosphere we are providing for our children by establishing an environment that will best enable them to achieve their desired learning outcomes.

Think about the space you are asking your child to work at. If possible, try and create a space that is unique to online learning. That way, when your child is ready to begin their online learning, they will be in a space which has all the materials they need, and they will know to adjust their mindset because they recognize that it is time to learn when they are in that particular location.

Our goal is to create visual cues that allow the child to orient themselves in the space provided. To do so, there are some key considerations:

1. Top to Bottom, Left to Right: When a child is working through a task, the required materials should always keep their eyes moving the same direction we read a book. From the top to the bottom and from the left to the right.

2. Limited Distractions: Anything that will distract the child should be out of sight. If we think about a child completing a task on the computer, is there anything else they need available? If not, make sure it is not in their field of vision.

3. Defined Tasks: Break down tasks into simple and specific steps that your child can follow. (Check out Structure the Task! post to learn more)

4. Finished Area: The idea of a finished area is that the completion of a task is now concrete. Once the task goes into that box, the child does not need to think about it any more.

Another easily forgotten environmental accommodation is addressing sensory concerns. Many individuals with Special Education Needs can be over or under-sensitive to sensory stimuli. While thinking about your child’s sensory needs, check in to see what they might be experiencing. Is the display on your computer too bright, would a desk chair that swivels be beneficial, or distracting? Are there any sounds that may be grabbing their attention?

Interested in learning more? The University of North Carolina runs a program known as the TEACCH Autism Program. TEACCH is highly regarded for is their approach to Structured Learning, and have a wonderful in-depth post about structured teaching. https://teacch.com/structured-teaching-teacch-staff/

Next, we will be looking at how to structure a task. A great difficulty of at-home learning is the inability of a teacher to provide direct instruction. By structuring a task for your child, we aim to minimize the chances of them feeling grossly overwhelmed, and instead empower them to feel confident and productive while accomplishing the desired task.